Stein's Little Lover

Is This Love True?

Jamie had confided his secret to Crona, and he had sworn to keep it a secret. Trying to get over it and shake the negativity out of his mind, Jamie walked to school alone. Crona had respected is request to walk alone, so Jamie had cut through the forest alone.

As he walked through the forest, he heard someone walking too. He froze and spun around to see Stein. Jamie's heart soared as he walked over to him and was embraced by his lover's strong arms.

"I missed you..." Stein said, and Jamie nodded, not wanting to move his head from his lover's chest. "Promise me you'll never confront Medusa like that ever again..."

"I-I promise." Jamie said, looking down. "I was reckless. I didn't mean to make you mad or to make you worry about me but when she started talking about you like you were her property or something it just made me so... Angry. You're no one else's, you're just mine. Selfish as that may be im not someone who shares the person they love. You'll never be hers, I don't even wanna believe you ever were hers..." He wiped a tear from his eyes and then shook his head. "I never loved anyone before this, I never even dated anyone...and then I meet you and it's like everything in my life took a 360 degree flip. I wasn't as scared anymore, as self conscious. I wasn't the scared shy little kid I was before meeting you. At least, I'm not as bad now...you've done so many things to help me that you don't even know about, and I'm so grateful for that. I love you Stein, more than anyone has ever loved anyone in this world. In this lifetime. In any world or any lifetime!"

With that Stein pulled Jamie close, shedding a small tear himself and stroking the boy's hair.

"I wasn't a saint before I met you. Hell I'm not one now. Medusa used to be on the staff at the DWMA...posing as a nurse. When we held a celebration, when all the DWMA students and faculty were gathered in the center of the school it happened. Medusa's minions locked us all in the school with the exception of Maka, Soul, Kid, Liz, Patti, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Spirit and I..." He paused.

"Spirit, that's Maka's dad right?" Jamie asked and Stein only nodded slowly.

"My first love."

Jamie was taken back by that. How could such a womanizer like Spirit have been with a man, let alone Stein? It just didn't seem right to Jamie.

"We were in love. Madly, deeply in love...until the madness overcame me."

"I've heard little things about madness but I'm not clear about what it was exactly."

"What it was? What it is is more like it. The madness never truly went away, it just kind of diluted. The Madness was spread by the Kishin when he was alive. He was a very paranoid, scared creature. Being so scared of everything, even people he banned together with against us, could make anyone mad. His level of madness in his own body permeated out of him and began to spread. The more powerful he became the more powerful the madness became. I was a bit mad myself already. Well, I am still a bit mad, but that made me susceptible to pick up on his madness and it also depleted my ability to control it. It took over my body to the point where I went clinically, certifiably insane. Medusa took advantage of that and used me as a pawn to try and kill her own son and the others. I was so out of my mind all I could do was sit there...I watched her almost kill Crona and then I saw Marie and Maka kill Medusa. I was really too out of my head to realize it then, but now looking back on it that was a fight that terrified even me. Anyway, back to the point...after Spirit saw me enveloped in the madness, he became scared. Too scared to stay with me. Scared that I might hurt him or even myself unintentionally. He left me. My first love left me..." Stein stopped. He wasn't about to allow himself to get emotional about past losses around his current love.

Jamie couldn't help but be emotional enough for the both of them. He was biting his lip to try and stop the tears but they kept pouring down his face like the river Nile. He couldn't help himself, but he motioned for Stein to keep telling his story.

"I thought I'd never love again. I thought if he'd seen my dark side and left me after everything anyone I ever loved ever again would leave me as soon as that side came out. I was so hesitant, so afraid that I never made the effort to love again. And then you came to the school and into my class. Into my life and my heart," once again some time passed before he spoke up again, this time his voice was shaky and he seemed to be on the verge of shedding a few tears himself. "You've opened me up to love again. You've unlocked the lock that was on my heart for so long I can't even remember now. You've found your way in, and it was so quickly I really didn't know what was going on. I fell deeply in love with you, I am deeply in love with you, and it only took a matter of days. What's wrong with me am I that crazy to let someone in so fast or is this really true love!?"

Jamie could tell Stein had never felt this way about anyone, and neither had he. He timidly kissed the older man's cheek and simply nodded his head yes.

Stein's eyes widened just a bit as he watched the boy. He slowly tightened his grip around him and looked down.

"This is true love because I'll love you forever." Jamie said with a sweet smile.

"And I'll love you forever. No matter what ever happens. We'll always share a love unparalleled by any others. I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" Jamie asked with a curious smile.

Everything went quiet and no one spoke for what seemed like ages until the only thing that could be heard was the slight clicking of the bolt turning in Stein's head.

"Jamie..."

"Yes...?..." He asked, almost nervously.

"Will you marry me?"

CLIFFHANGER!!! HAHA. THIS WILL BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT BOOK!!! YES A BOOK TO SEQUEL THIS ONE! ITS CALLED UNITED WE STAND